March Madness Comparisons

For those of you who haven’t seen, we are opening up our TheRealTrain writers NCAA Basketball tourney bracket challenge league to all of you guys. Just search group name TheRealTrain and use password originalpancake to play along. If you win, I’ll throw 10 UFC points your code name’s direction.

To help get you all in the tournament spirit, I decided to compare some of our high school squads to some of the teams in the NCAA schools that compete in the field of 68 in March. Don’t read too deep into any of these comparisons or it will lose some of its magic. I apologize if anyone gets offended that their team is compared to someone they don’t like. Just be thankful I didn’t make any of you guys Louisville.

So without further ado, I give you The NCAA Basketball to High School Track Team Comparison: The List You Didn't Know You Wanted Until You Read The Second Paragraph Of This Post And Then Thought "Maybe This Would Be Cool, But It Also Could Be Etrain Getting A Little Carried Away. Eh I'll Give Him The Benefit Of The-Wait, What Is Up With This Title?!" 

Carlisle – Kentucky

Let’s face it. This team has their big time blue chip recruits. They’ve got stars who are going to be stars on the next level. They’ve got all time level talent. Carlisle has made some deep runs in the tourney, especially in 2016-2017, where they finished tight seconds at two state championships. Carlisle made some runs to the final four, but this spring they want to go all the way. And I think they could do it.

GFS – Gonzaga

They come from a conference that isn’t in the PIAA so it’s always hard to keep track of how they stack up. We know they are really good. We know they are really consistent. But how do we know if they are the best? Gonzaga is still looking for that big final four berth, just like GFS was looking for that state title in the relays this year. Maybe this spring both teams will get a national title they can feel good about considering this might be each of their program’s best ever squads.

Winchester Thurston – Wichita State

Once upon a time, Wichita State was a little known program. Now the Shockers are seen in the same light as the schools from power conferences despite their mid major status. That’s what happens when you rattle off 30 win seasons and make a final four. Similarly, the boys from WT have been rolling through the A classification and their leaders like Will Loevner and Tristan Forsythe have acquitted themselves quite well when they took on the big boys in AAA.

Plus the names kinda even sound the same.

Henderson – Michigan State

Each year, Michigan State comes into the NCAA tournament looking something like your average team, but when they start dancing, something about Tom Izzo’s coaching magic just helps them compete for a big run every year. Sometimes, they get bounced, but most times they perform above their seed. If nothing else, they have the respect of their colleagues around the NCAA.

LaSalle & O’Hara – UNC & Duke

I’m not sure we really have any schools on the level of Duke-UNC, but if I had to pick a rivalry that properly encapsulated the spirit of these ACC schools, I’d have to go with the PCL match up. Always great programs. Always a ton of talent and a ton of depth. Always a smart pick to make a big run in the tourney. I decided to match up LaSalle as UNC and Duke as O’Hara. I don’t know if this is true or not, but it feels like over the years our anonymous commenters have been quicker to throw shade on O’Hara than anybody else, despite the fact that they are consistently one of the best. That’s kinda like the Duke Blue Devils who are the target of everybody’s basketball based aggression. But I’m comfortable lining up them up either way.

Cheltenham – Miami

Everybody who has been around a while remembers Cheltenham’s sprint corps dominated the states for years. They did when I was in high school, they did as recently as 2015 with John Lewis. But recently, Cheltenham’s distance program has made a real name for themselves. This isn’t just a football school anymore.

Dallas – Butler

For whatever reason, the back to back AA State Championships for Dallas reminded me a lot of those back to back championship experiences from Butler a few years back. And thus, I wrote their names down next to each other. As long as their coach doesn’t get hired by the Boston Athletic Association, I think they’ve got a good chance to get to another title game next year.

North Allegheny – UCLA

Seneca Valley – Arizona

North Allegheny is kinda like the big time program with walls upon walls of championship honors. Just something about the name gets respect wherever you go. I will point out that none of their kids’ parents have ever come on the blog and said they are better runners that Matt Centrowitz. So it’s not a perfect comparison.

Meanwhile, Seneca Valley is that team that has asserted themselves as a force within the WPIAL. They’ve had great individual and team success and they finally got that big win they were hoping for in the PAC-12 Title Match. So now who will go further in the spring? After a strong winter, Seneca Valley may actually be the higher seed heading to outdoors.

P.S. Mount Lebanon, this means you guys get Oregon. Congrats. You earned it.

Mechanicsburg – Middle Tennessee

Manheim Central – Florida Golf Coast

The best part of any NCAA tourney is those early round bracket busters who come in and crash the party against the traditional powerhouses who’ve got hype surrounding them. This year, I’d say that was Mechanicsburg and Manheim Central. A couple schools who did an awesome job this past XC season in District 3 making it to the state championship. But these Cinderellas aren’t done yet. Both programs have monster athletes who will be ready to roll this upcoming track season. Look for Morgan to take it to the Cupp. And for Cole to Send-er-in. And also Alex Tomasko is a good runner. Sorry Alex, I was already reaching hard with Sunderland and didn’t want to push it even further. But I was leaning in the direction of Tabasco sauce. So, yeah. Headed down a bad road. Also that’s not really basketball related.